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MHettel
03-08-2008, 05:09 PM
It looks pretty bleak for the league.

After a GREAT non-con season across the league, we were the talk of the town. 5 teams emerged with what looked like "pre-tickets" to the dance.

Then it all fell apart.

UD had injuries. 2 key guys at the same time for an extended period. Some of the "talent" they put on the court made them terrible. I think a healthy UD team is a pretty good team. Hate'em if you want, but that was probably a 25 win team if all went well.

URI was a nice surprise. We knew they had been getting better. Top 25 at one point, and a 13-1 record! It was all coming together so fast for them. Then, in 2 weeks, it was all flushed. All of it. No more bubble. We were their first loss in what was it, 5 in a row?

SJU. First of all, I freakin HATE playing these guys. Their style of play is just so low grade. They make our atheletes stand around. They bump our guys off balance with their hips, and set moving screens. I hate em! Anyway, they just managed to completely play their way off the bubble today by losing to Dayton. Good god. I thought our loss on Thursday had a silver lining because I felt SJU might have played their way in. They've been doing this for weeks now. Hate those guys.

Duquesne made it out of the non-con schedule with a nice pre-resume for the dance. i had my doubts about them and ultimately they fizzled in conference, but it was nice to see SOME success out of Pittsburg. They were a longshot in my mind, and of course they proved me right.

UMass looks like they are in. I was worried for awhile, but they have finished strong.

And by the way, what's the deal with Charlotte and SLU. Weren't these teams supposed to come right in and compete for championships? Both these programs have good foundations. It's about time to get some results.

I said watch Temple about a month ago. They are finishing strong, and are gonna finish at 11-5 in conference. I think they COULD sneak in if they get to the A-10 finals. That said, they did have ANOTHER poor non-conference record. Remember when Temple would go knock down a couple big teams every year?

Bottom line to me is that makes the load XU has to carry a little heavier. If the A-10 fizzles out in the first 2 rounds it's a nightmare ending to a season that could have been really important for the league. We coulda had 4-5 bids! If we had 4 teams clearly at the top of the league, we coulda done it. But all these chokers beat the crap out of each other.

XU needs to make a REAL deep run in the tourney. Salvage this season for thie crappy ass league.

By the way, Drew's ankle is NOT going to get better. It's bad, and it's obvious. We're gonna see real small doses of Drew for the rest of the year.

BUT, we are also gonna get to see Stanley Burrell run this team. He's gonna be the PG. and you know what else? His apprentice, Dante, is gonna get some quality minutes in some meaningful games. These guys will push each other to complete excellence defensively. The Master and the Student. That could be a REAL X-Factor for us in the dance.

LA Muskie
03-08-2008, 05:14 PM
Agreed MHettel. It is disappointing. But in part I think it's because we all let the media get excited about the conference, when we all should have known better. It has been nice to see both ABC and ESPN (OK, I guess they're the same) propping us up bigtime this afternoon, though.

I agree that things aren't looking good for Drew, but I'm hoping (nay, praying) that whatever Coach and the medical staff have been seeing in practice will translate sooner rather than later. I'm not a dooms-dayer, but it's certainly hard to imagine us going as far without him 100% as we could with him.

Fred Garvin
03-08-2008, 05:51 PM
BUT, we are also gonna get to see Stanley Burrell run this team. He's gonna be the PG. and you know what else? His apprentice, Dante, is gonna get some quality minutes in some meaningful games. These guys will push each other to complete excellence defensively. The Master and the Student. That could be a REAL X-Factor for us in the dance. [Quote]

It's not the defensive side I'm worried about.

Theo Huxtable
03-08-2008, 07:05 PM
We will see very little of Drew until the dance then he has to suck it up and play. Unless he is hurting us more than helping, I say you will see him play 35 minutes for the NCAA games.

Snipe
03-08-2008, 10:26 PM
It was a great year in the non-conference for the A-10. In league play nobody really achieved the seperation that they needed. Dayton, URI and SJU needed to win 10 league games and they failed to do that. This is a tough league. It is saying something that we went 14-2.

If Temple makes the finals they may be able to make a compelling case if they lose to us. It would be nice to beat them there, as they are the only A-10 team we have not beaten.

UMass probably need to win their first round against URI/Charlotte to be safe. If they take that one I think they are a lock. Winning the last six in a row is something. They are playing well right when you want to be playing well.

Dayton has played its way back into the conversation with the win today. They face Saint Louis and if they win they face us. If they can find a way to beat us I think they will be dancing. It would be a great story for them, and a lousy story for us.

If I had to pick a team other than X to win the tourney it would probably be UMass.

I have to say that I think it is good for the league to see UMass playing well and Temple turning the corner. Travis Ford is doing a great job up there and this conference needs the Owls to be on the National map. Temple still has name recognition and UMass does to a lesser extent. If those teams do well it helps the whole conference.

Charlotte was predicted to finish 10th and go 16-14 (8-8) by WH. They ended up sixty at 18-12 (9-7). Lutz seems like he may be getting thing back on track. Their RPI is 85. They are also a team that could make a run in the A-10 Tournament (but who isnt?)

Saint Louis had a difficult transition under Majerus. If he can build that program into a contender I really like the future of this league.

The Mighty Dukes could be a team that makes some noise next year. They won 17 games and I could see 20+ if things fall their way. LaSalle also seems to be starting to get their act together.

Next year will be very interesting in many respects.

X-band '01
03-09-2008, 07:55 AM
In league play nobody really achieved the seperation that they needed.

Xavier and St. Bonaventure separated themselves from the rest of the league, but that's about it.

EDIT: I was going to suggest St. Joe's as a spoiler, but I don't know if wins over Richmond and Xavier will be enough.

MHettel
03-14-2008, 08:04 PM
Did I mention how much I hate playing SJU?

jdm2000
03-14-2008, 08:09 PM
Well, we won't be facing Juan Bid.....


On the plus side, I feel much better about Drew in the tourney after the last two games.

GoMuskies
03-14-2008, 08:24 PM
I feel much better about Drew in the tourney after the last two games.


I guess. Looks okay physically, but his play was pretty stinky.

Fred Garvin
03-15-2008, 01:54 AM
BUT, we are also gonna get to see Stanley Burrell run this team. He's gonna be the PG. and you know what else? His apprentice, Dante, is gonna get some quality minutes in some meaningful games. These guys will push each other to complete excellence defensively. The Master and the Student. That could be a REAL X-Factor for us in the dance. [Quote]

It's not the defensive side I'm worried about.

I did not post this. I swear. How weird. I think I remember someone posting this as a response to someone. But I never posted this. Does the author remember posting this?